A wild Nick Kroll appears, Santiago wants to go to a Ted Talks on “Power Poses”, and it’s essentially a rehash of season one’s “Tactical Village” on this week’s episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
I’m one of those audience members who enjoy when comedies manage to create an emotional undercurrent throughout much of its storyline. I don’t if it’s silly or sweet or anything in between but its why shows such as Parks and Recreation and Spaced draw me in so well: they’re hilarious and sometimes ridiculous but they don’t fear sentiment. Not all comedies need it (see Broad City or The Kroll Show as shows that survive based on their absurdist nature alone) but they certainly can benefit work-place comedies where the energy between the cast can build up or tear down the shows shelf life.
This is why I’m giving Brooklyn Nine-Nine a slight pass on an episode that was essentially regurgitated from season one and caused the episode to suffer more than it needed to. Rosa and Amy are fighting over who gets a Saturday off, Holt is appalled to realize that he and Gina had the same personality test results, and Jake is trying to get over Sophie with Boyle and Terry’s help. Most of the action takes place in a tactical terror threat exercise which, in all honesty, likely deserved more sobriety that it was given but sometimes shows throw away realism for a quick laugh with little thought.
The two B storylines seemed thinner than usual with Rosa and Amy and Holt and Gina taking care of their issues rather easily. Rosa wants the Saturday to introduce Marcus (who we again don’t see) to her parents and Amy concedes impressed with Rosa having emotions. Captain Holt apologizes to his reaction over the personality test and gifts Gina’s efforts with more responsibility at the precinct.
Most of the action takes place during the tactical procedure which the Nine-Nine was lucky enough to receive an invite to. However, their quickly faced with animosity from the Homeland Security crew (including Nick Kroll who is rising in the ranks of favorite guest stars on comedies along with Jenny Slate). Instead of letting Jake and his team get in on the challenge, they’re delegated to playing the hostages. However, this was supposed to be Jake’s cathartic moment to get over Sophia and distract himself from the fact that she hasn’t texted him back. So, ignoring Terry’s advice, he and Boyle break free and go and bust out around the rest of the team. They’re adult decision is them taking out the other people partaking in the exercise who are playing the terrorists. Due to the teams efficiency and a surprise appearance by Terry that saves the day, they round up everyone quickly. Just as they’re all about to leave, feeling good enough about their win but prideful over their jobs, Boyle realizes Jake needs more time to shoot paintballs and distract himself. The team later joins in.
See, it’s little moments like this that make me more lenient with this show than others because it has earned it. I like seeing the majority of the characters all in the same place and playing action heroes. Sure, it’s poking at the plausibility of the situation and I end up wishing that they could have balanced the humor and the realism with a stronger backbone but I can’t fault them either when they have the team rallying behind Jake to give him his win.
And he gets it…kind of. He’s never able to overpower Nick Kroll but he was successfully distracted and as he says, less depressed than he would have been a few hours ago and that’s progress.
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Nothing substantial here and some small strong moments that won’t stick around in your mind for long, but it was enjoyable, so here’s to hoping next week will bring the focus back on track.
6.5/10
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